Artificial general intelligence (AGI) is a concept that has sparked both fascination and fear for decades. But more recently, as many enterprises begin to establish the prerequisites for agentic AI or deploy their first AI agents, AGI is beginning to make more headlines and create confusion among some technology leaders.

Unlike other types of AI, AGI represents highly autonomous systems capable of outperforming humans in a wide range of economically valuable tasks. Understanding AGI has never been more important, as its seeds are already taking root in today’s advanced agentic systems.

For many, AGI’s portrayal in popular media has cemented a narrative of existential dread, with stories about machines surpassing human intelligence and triggering global calamity. On the other hand, scientific discussions often seem overly theoretical, making it difficult for technology leaders to see the use case or relevance of AGI today. This leaves us with two equally problematic pitfalls — either dismissing AGI as a distant fantasy or reacting to it with unnecessary alarm. There is, however, a more balanced and practical path forward.

At Forrester’s Technology & Innovation Summit EMEA on October 8–10 in London, we’ll explore this path and demystify AGI in a keynote session designed to equip leaders with the insights they need to act confidently. Rather than succumbing to hype or fear, the conversation will center on framing AGI as a coming event — an ongoing evolution from today’s agentic systems toward more autonomous and intelligent systems. This perspective allows us to make sense of AGI as a trend, rather than an endpoint, and take meaningful steps now to prepare for the future.

The keynote will begin by defining AGI — what it is and, perhaps more importantly, what it isn’t — and discussing its implications from various scientific and economic perspectives. For instance, while AGI has often been linked to the concept of singularity (the moment machines surpass human intelligence), there is a growing emphasis on its economic capacity. OpenAI defines AGI as “highly autonomous systems that outperform humans at most economically valuable work.” Framing AGI this way allows decision-makers to consider its tangible impacts on business, innovation, and society.

Instead of fixating on timelines or theoretical superintelligence, we advocate focusing on the stepping stones ahead of us. Seeing AI as a journey rather than a destination helps us cut through the noise, focus on what matters, and take practical steps that prepare us for the long road ahead. Here are some keys to this that we’ll dig into more deeply at the Summit:

  • Don’t focus on the destination — take the journey. AGI will not arrive all at once but will unfold in stages, starting with agentic today. Understanding these phases helps us take the right steps now and plan for the future.
  • See beyond the hype and prepare for the journey ahead. By acting today — improving how IT operates, making our data AI-ready, and investing in a foundation of trust — we position ourselves to lead through the mayhem at each step along the way.
  • Avoid future vendor lock-ins and stay sovereign. Mapping realistic scenarios and milestone signals today will allow for better decisions tomorrow.

By framing AGI not as a destination but as a trend emerging from increasingly powerful agents, we can treat the current agentic craze as just one phase in that continuum. This gives us permission to spend more time where we are now — learning how to separate hype from reality as agents evolve from basic tool-using assistants (Level 1) toward more autonomous, decision-making systems (Level 2), what we might call “proto-AGI.”

It’s true that we analysts have said often that “this is going to be the next big thing.” But today, we at Forrester are convinced that AGI is bigger than the internet, social, mobile, cloud, or big data. It’s the biggest change in tech we have ever seen, and it’s starting right now.

That means boundless opportunity: a literal shuffling of the deck for business. Beyond automating payments or agent-to-agent commerce, executive-level AGI promises new science, new knowledge, and frictionless customer experiences — while wringing out every inefficiency in every process.

You can find out more about our upcoming Technology & Innovation Summit EMEA here and become part of the conversation shaping the future of AGI. And what’s more, you can bring a friend for free! We’re offering a two-for-one special for the Summit through August 29, so bring a colleague to the event, happening October 8–10 in London.